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Sunchoke Lentil Soup With Garnish Galore!

Sunchoke lentil soup

I’ve been meaning for quite sometime to make this soup when my boyfreind shared the original recipe from the Wall Street Journal back on January 13, 3013. I never had a chance to cook with sunchokes in the past nor did I hear of them till late last year. And now I notice more restaurants in Vancouver like The Acorn making Sunchoke soup. I was even more motivated to make this soup. Is this a new fad of soups? Hmmn.

The Verdict of Sunchoke Soup?

This recipe was very thought out with the great looking garnish that took it further than a garnish because it added another level to the soup with taste and texture. Two thumbs up to Chef Michael Anthony from the Gramercy Tavern in New York known for fine-dining take on hyper-seasonal American cuisine with this recipe.

The soup was healthy and sans cream or milk products. Loved it also because the topping with chives was exquisite and the crunchy apples a fine texture and just enough sweetness. The fried tiny Sunchoke pieces are subtle and plays well with chives and apples. The soup was very velvety and creamy like a pureed cauliflower soup (one of my favs). The bouquet spices made a strong statement in the pot of soup for a tiny packet.

I adjusted the recipe and added more lentils to make a meal out of my soup. I took it to work two days in a row for lunch and it filled me up just fine!

One thing I would do different next time if I made this soup is I would use a lighter coloured vegetable stock (like Imagine Organic Vegetable Low Sodium Stock). The stock I used for this time (Pacifico Organic Vegetable Broth) was way too orange for my liking. I would have loved to have a whiter looker soup (prettier in my opinion being more white). Oh, ya, sprinkle a little lemon juice on the apples before adding to the medley if you want them looking white for next day and store the medley in an airtight plastic container.

Add enough stock to just cover vegetables and raise heat to high. Wrap spices and ginger in cheesecloth, secure with kitchen twine and add sachet to pot. Once soup comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium-high and simmer steadily until sunchokes and fork-tender, 20-30 minutes.

While vegetables simmer, assemble garnish: peel and cut reserved sunchokes into ¼ inch dice/ Set a medium pan over medium heat and swirl in remaining oil/ Once hot, sauté diced sunchokes until tender and golden all over, about 5 minutes.

Mix sautéed sunchokes with cooked lentils, apples and chives. Season with salt to taste. Set aside.

Once vegetables have simmered, set a sieve over a large bowl and pour soup through to separate vegetables from stock. Discard sachet and reserve stock. In a food processor, puree vegetables until smooth.

Return pureed vegetables to pot and stir in enough stock to create a loose yet creamy consistency. Bring back to a simmer and season with salt and white pepper to taste.

To serve, ladle soup into bowls and place a large spoonful of sunchoke-apple-lentil garnish in center of each bowl.

2 thoughts on “Sunchoke Lentil Soup With Garnish Galore!”

I have no idea what “sunchokes” are, nor “whole star anise”. Maybe I’m getting lazy but I hate having to go and do research just to discover what the ingredient list is, never mind actually finding the stuff in my hometown! I think I’ll stick with my lentil soup recipes, which I really love by the way!

I get you Rick. Sometimes using plain ole ingredients makes some mighty fine soups. I have to say it is fun using different ingredients but takes more time finding and learning about them that is for sure!

By the way, my second image in the slideshow shows all of the ingredients (just click next under the pic of the soup), you can see the sunchokes there and the star anise. I think I have to make that more clear in future with buttons.

If you have a favourite lentil soup, feel free to share with me here. Would love to try it.